Paris Internship Workforce Course
6.0 UC quarter (4.0 semester) units
Paris - 2nd City - Semester Internship Program
DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this course is to provide the framework necessary for students to accomplish a successful inter-cultural internship. This framework includes both theoretical and practical elements, with both types of elements focused on helping students achieve the inter-cultural outcomes of a direct experience of the French workplace. Such outcomes are certainly obtainable but are by no means automatic.
The theoretical elements take essentially a sociological approach, and in particular the sociology of work. While providing necessary understanding of the current state of the French economy, the emphasis nonetheless is on presenting the makeup and the dynamics of the French workforce, important for understanding how to operate in the French workplace. Topics include the importance of public administration, male/female relations, unemployment, the separate category for management-level workers (statut des cadres), labor law and its social implications, and workplace behavior often identified with the French workplace (socialization, relation to time, productivity, hierarchy, etc.) This part of the course also takes a look at particular environments within the universe of work in France: the dynamics of a French company; education; arts and culture (including the strong role of the State, and the like).
The practical portions of the course draw on IFE’s (the Internship provider service) long-standing experience in accompanying US university students on their exploration of French society through the world of work. As in any inter-cultural setting, and especially given the pressures inherent to work environments, examining and decoding behavior and interpersonal communication are important in order to avoid misunderstanding. This knowledge will also open the way to real inter-cultural understanding.
A series of workshop sessions draws on students' actual experiences and perceptions for role playing, situational acting-out, small-group discussions and briefings/debriefings as a form of accompaniment for each student-intern throughout the internship period.